Trains to Nowhere
by NeoResilience
Summary: A story of a man waiting for a train. This was written by myself and a close friend. One-shot.


William Tahtson was walking along the railroad track that passed by Nipton. He had just returned from the Mojave Outpost after winning a hand of Caravan with Rose of Sharon Cassidy. He was approaching an old train station when he noticed a ghoul in a tattered suit sitting on a bench, a bouquet of flowers that was, unlike the ghoul, dead.

"Excuse me, sir? What are you doing?" William asked, curious to the sight.

The ghoul, turning to William with a wry smile, responded, "I'm waiting for my train."

"The train? To where? There hasn't been a train for a long time." William replied.

"It's running a little late." The ghoul replied, turning to stare at the track, still smiling. "That's all."

"Where are you wanting to go?" Will asked, noting the smile.

"Oh... I don't really know." The ghoul said, not turning his head. "She told me... she'd be waiting. By a station. Far from here... I'd know when I reached there."

"She? Who is this she? Your daughter?" Will asked, indicating the flowers.

The ghoul chuckled slightly. "No..." He said, "My wife. Lily." After a moment, he turned to William and said, "May I ask what you're waiting for? Or who?"

"I'm waiting for my luck to change." William replied, sitting next to the ghoul.

"That's quite a goal. Fit for Vegas, I suppose." The ghoul said, turning to William. He nodded slightly, still keeping up that wry smile. "My name's Daniel."

"Hello, Daniel. My name is William. I think you misunderstand, though. Most in Vegas want to get lucky. I want to lose mine." William returned the smile, giving a wink.

Daniel sighed, nodding once more. "Well... I can relate a little to that." He took a moment to raise his left wrist and give it a quick glance, the sleeve of the suit pulled back. As if, he were staring at a watch. But there wasn't one. "Quite late, actually..." He muttered.

"You can relate? How so?" Will asked, noticing the peculiar movement of the ghoul.

"Well... every man's home is that of dust. We all want it to be something better, like... diamonds, I suppose. Most of us don't ever get that chance, though. Sometimes, we wait for the good or the bad to knock on our doors... me, I'm giving up on my luck. It's... it's not there, anymore. It's just not there." He lowered his head for a moment, before saying, "But I don't need it. All I need is Lily."

"When is Lily supposed to get here? And from where?" Will asked, looking down the track. He coughed into his hand, pulling back to reveal blood in his palm.

"No, she's not coming, I'm going. You see, I..." He turned to William, noticing his palm. He looked back at him and said, "Oh, that's not good. A-are you alright?"

"Where are you going?" William asked, "and I don't know for sure. I've been to the casinos, all of them. Tops, Gomorrah, Ultra-Lux, Vikki and Vance, Bison Steve, Atomic Wrangler, even the fabled Sierra Madre. I think the Madre took it's own reward though. Ever since then, I've been coughing up blood."

"The Madre..." Daniel said, raising his rotten brows. "Lucky you... or, maybe not so. Perhaps there was a little virus going around? Picked it up from one of the others?"

"'Others'? Wait..what year is it, Daniel?" William asking, getting a odd feeling.

Daniel looked at William with a smile. "I'm not delusional." He said, "It's 2282." He sighed and said, "I guess the Madre's not doing so well... my mistake."

"Alright, if it's 2282 and you know that the world went boom, why do you expect a train to come by? The only train around here is the monorail at McCarren, and House is keeping it locked up." Will asked.

Daniel slowly turned his head away from William, looking up at the midday sky. He gave an audible sigh, and then said, "I know. I'm... not waiting. For that kind of train."

"Lily's dead, isn't she?" Will asked bluntly, looking down at his feet.

After a moment passed, Daniel reached into the inside of his coat and pulled out a black piece of paper. It was nearly disintegrated beyond recognition. All that was left was a corner of the picture. A woman's shoulder. Daniel looked down at the picture and still smiled on. "This... used to be so beautiful, once. Just like her." He looked at the track and said, "I just... can't seem to find much else redeemable in life. Don't take me for too a fatalist, but... we all know, deep inside, there's better than this. Maybe not in this world, but the next. Lily's already there... and I'm two hundred years late."

"Daniel, if there even was another world, I don't think we could ever go there. We've destroyed this one, why should we get a chance to destroy another?" Will asked, standing up from the bench

Daniel shook his head. "No, "we"... you and I, we never destroyed anything." He paused for a moment more and said, "We take ourselves as a collective, no matter how different we are. But I... I believe in the individual. I think everyone's judged for their actions, good or bad. Not all together, not... one big pool, I guess." He nodded, turning to William and saying, "But I ask... how can any of us know whether or not there's someplace better... if we haven't tried getting there?"

"I..don't know. It's the only gamble I won't take." Will said, pulling a black pistol from his suit jacket.

Daniel nodded, noticing the pistol. He stared at the dead bouquet in his hands, and then turned back to the railroad. "I'm waiting for my train, William." He said, "And I know it'll be here soon."

William pulled the magazine out of the pistol and placed it in his pocket. He pulled the gun back and placed a bullet into the empty chamber, before setting it on the bench next to Daniel.

"You're going to need a ticket, Daniel." William said, before nodding his head as a gesture of farewell. He turned to walk towards Vegas.

And Daniel, all the while, kept up that wry smile of his. Staring up at the sky.


End file.
